3 ½ years later

Aelin sat in her chair with her back pressed up against the chair. Mistress Prewette stood watching her as she tried to keep herself from squirming. She had to manage to sit still with perfect posture for five minutes. There could be no sound coming from her. No laughing, talking, or even clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

She hated her etiquette lessons with everything she had. One day she overheard someone use the term "bane of my existence". When her reading tutor later answered her question about the meaning, she decided that the expression suited how she felt about etiquette lessons perfectly.

It wasn't they were painful by any means. Even now, she might have been uncomfortable, but she wasn't hurt. She knew that if her parents thought that any of her tutors were using any and all extreme physical measures to teach her, they would be furious. It was just that the lessons were so boring. Learning to sit still, speak nicely, and act appropriately was hard for her. She hated to sit still, was sharp tongued, and stubborn about doing what she wanted.

Aelin much preferred her other lessons.

Reading and writing were okay. Her tutor, Mistress Sibyl, always understood when she stumbled over a word, and would always give her a piece of chocolate at the end of the lesson.

Numbers were made bearable by Master Stein, who always found a fun new way to add and subtract different things. One day it was pieces of candy, the next was horses out in the stables. One day they even went and sat on the balcony overlooking her uncle's court and counted how many nobles had their noses in the air.

Even dancing wasn't so bad. Mistress Prewett also taught that, and her partner was always her cousin Aedion. Aelin loved to dance, and it was always great fun to watch Aedion step all over himself. Dancing was one thing that Aelin was better at than him.

Finally, the small timer on the table in front of her rang out, sharp and clear. Mistress Prewette smiled, and Aelin knew that she had passed the test.

"Congratulations Princess, you actually survived not being constantly in motion" said Mistress Prewette. "I was starting to doubt you there at the end".

"Thank the Gods," Aelin muttered as she jumped out of her chair. She had started to think her head might explode. Mistress Prewette cam over to help her push the chair out of the way. Aedion, who had been sitting in the corner making faces at her, stood up and laughed.

"Don't know how you did it" he laughed.

"How could I not," Aelin laughed as well, "when you were trying your hardest to make sure I failed?"

Mistress Prewette sat a disapproving frown his way, just now realizing that Aedion had been making faces behind her back. Aedion just laughed and said, "Careful cousin, your stubbornness is showing. Besides, at least you now know you can perform under pressure. That's important. Is that not so, Mistress?"

"Yes, that is important, but we still should not try to sabotage each other. You two are both dismissed for the day".

With that, the two children took off running for the back gardens. Where only the royal family was allowed, so they could do, act, and say whatever they wanted.

And most importantly, just be children.